Packaging container

ABSTRACT

A packaging container that simplifies a packaging procedure of large and heavy products, such as electric appliances, conveyed by a forklift, and is simply manufactured. The packaging container includes a side cover portion to surround side surfaces of a product, an upper cover portion foldably extended integrally from the side cover portion to cover an upper surface of the product, and a grip portion formed between the side cover portion and the upper cover portion and folded toward the side cover portion to form, a groove between the grip portions and the side cover portion.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 2004-10752, filed Feb. 18, 2004, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a packaging container, and more particularly to a container that is foldable to pack electric appliances, and includes a grip portion to carry the packed product.

2. Description of the Related Art

Generally, large and heavy electric appliances, such as washing machines or refrigerators, once produced, are wrapped in a packaging container to prevent a main body thereof from being broken, and are then conveyed to a container ship or a storage facility.

Such a packaging container has a hexahedral cube shape, of which a lower surface is opened, thus covering upper and side surfaces of a targeted electric appliance. A cushion member for buffering the bottom of the electric appliance is located on the opened lower surface of the packaging container.

Since it is difficult to convey electric appliances that are large in volume and heavy in weight, using manpower, the large and heavy electric appliances are wrapped in a packaging container, and are then conveyed by a conventional forklift, or a similar device. Some conventional packaging containers are conveyed by allowing a fork of the forklift to suspend an upper part of a side surface of the packaging containers, thereby causing electric appliances accommodated by the packaging containers to be conveyed.

A band is wound on the outer surface of each of the above packaging containers so that the packaging container containing the electric appliance and the cushion member can be lifted, and a grip portion is formed at the upper part of the side surface of the packaging container so that the fork of the forklift can be hung on the grip portion.

The above-described packaging container comprises a main body, provided with opened upper and lower surfaces, for surrounding side surfaces of an electric appliance, and a cover, attached to the opened upper surface, for covering an upper surface of the electric appliance and upper ends of the side surfaces of the main body. The main body and the cover are separately manufactured as folding cardboard, which is properly cut out and processed. The main body and the cover are then interconnected when the electric appliance is wrapped in the packaging container, thereby forming a hexahedral cube shape provided with an opened lower surface.

Since the main body and the cover of the conventional packaging container are separately manufactured, the above conventional packaging container causes difficulty for manufacturers, and requires an additional operation of interconnecting the main body and the cover when a product is wrapped in the packaging container, thereby causing difficulty when wrapping the product.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, an aspect of the invention is to provide a packaging container that achieves an easy packaging procedure of large and heavy products, such as electric appliances, conveyed by a forklift.

It is another aspect of the present invention to provide a packaging container that is simply manufactured.

Additional aspects and/or advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.

In accordance with one aspect, the present invention provides a packaging container comprising: a side cover portion to surround side surfaces of a product; an upper cover portion foldably extended integrally from the side cover portion to cover an upper surface of the product; and a grip portion integrally formed between the side cover portion and the upper cover portion and folded toward the side cover portion to form a groove between the grip portion and the side cover portion.

According to one aspect, the grip portion includes a plurality of bending portions bent to overlap each other.

According to one aspect, the bending portions are prepared in an even number.

According to one aspect, the number of the bending portions is two.

According to one aspect, the grip portion is fixed to the side cover portion under the condition that the grip portion is folded toward the side cover portion.

According to one aspect, the grip portion is fixed to the side cover portion by an adhesive tape.

According to one aspect, the side cover portion includes a plurality of side covers integrally formed and folded to respectively surround the side surfaces of the product, the upper cover portion includes a plurality of upper covers extended integrally from the side cover portion and folded to cover the upper surface of the product, and the grip portion is formed at least between one side cover and one upper cover.

According to one aspect, the plural side covers and the plural upper covers may be fixed together by an adhesive tape under the condition that the side and upper covers surround the side and upper surfaces of the product.

According to one aspect, the packaging container also includes a cushion member to support the product may be positioned under a lower end of the product, and a band member wound onto an outer surface of the packaging container and the cushion member so that the product, the cushion member, and the packaging container can be lifted together.

According to one aspect, the product includes an electric appliance.

According to one aspect, the electric appliance is selected from the group consisting of a washing machine and a refrigerator.

In accordance with another aspect, the present invention provides a packaging container comprising: a packaging portion including a side cover portion to surround side surfaces of a product, and an upper cover portion foldably formed integrally with an upper end of the side cover portion, to cover an upper surface of the product; and a grip portion extended integrally from the packaging portion to lift the packaging portion therewith.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and/or other aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, of which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating an unfolded structure of a packaging container in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, and a washing machine;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating the packaging container of FIG. 1, in which side surfaces of the washing machine are wrapped by side cover portions of the packaging container;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating the packaging container of FIG. 1, in which a grip portion is fixed;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating the packaging container of FIG. 1, in which the washing machine is completely packed within the packaging container;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view, taken along the line A-A of FIG. 4; and

FIG. 6 is an enlarged cross-sectional view illustrating the grip portion, which is caught by a fork of a forklift.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to the like elements throughout. The embodiments are described below to explain the present invention by referring to the figures.

For reference, the present invention will be exemplarily applied to a washing machine.

A packaging container 10 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention serves to wrap large and heavy products such as electric appliances, including a washing machine and a refrigerator, and is made of bendable multilayered Dec. 22, 2004 cardboard. As is shown in FIG. 1, the packaging container 10 comprises a packaging portion including a side cover portion 20 to cover side surfaces of a washing machine 1 and an upper cover portion (or end cover portion) 30 to cover an upper surface of the washing machine 1. The side cover portion 20 and the upper cover portion 30 are integrally formed, and bent against each other.

The side cover portion 20 includes a plurality of side covers 21, 22, 23 and 24 integrally formed and bent for covering each of the four side surfaces of the washing machine 1, i.e., a first side cover 21, a second side cover 22, a third side cover 23 and a fourth side cover 24.

The side cover portion 20 further includes a connecting portion 25 positioned at one edge of the fourth side cover 24, distant from the third side cover 23, and folded and connected with one edge of the first side cover 21 under the condition that the side cover portion 20 is folded so that the first, second, third and fourth covers 21, 22, 23 and 24 respectively surround the four side surfaces of the washing machine, and folds 26 positioned between the neighboring side covers 21, 22, 23 and 24 and between the fourth side covers 24 and the connecting portion 25, so that the first, second, third and fourth covers 21, 22, 23 and 24 and the connecting portion 25 are easily folded against one another.

The upper cover portion 30 includes a plurality of upper covers 31, 32, 33 and 34, i.e., a first upper cover 31, a second upper cover 32, a third upper cover 33 and a fourth upper cover 34, respectively extended integrally from the first, second, third and fourth side covers 21, 22, 23 and 24 and bent to cover the upper surface of the washing machine 1. The upper cover portion 30 further includes folds 35 formed between each of the upper covers 31, 32, 33 and 34 and the corresponding one of the side covers 21, 22, 23 and 24 so that the upper covers 31, 32, 33 and 34 and the side covers 21, 22, 23 and 24 are easily folded against one another. According to one embodiment, the upper covers 31, 32, 33 and 34 are designed such that each of the upper covers 31, 32, 33 and 34 covers half of the whole upper surface of the washing machine 1 under the condition that the packaging container is folded.

The packaging container 10 further comprises a grip portion 40 extended integrally from the packaging portion so that the packaging portion is lifted up using the grip portion 40. The grip portion 40, under the condition that the washing machine 1 is wrapped in the packaging container 10, is caught by a fork of a forklift, thereby allowing the packaging container 10 containing the washing machine 1 to be conveyed.

More specifically, the grip portion 40 includes a plurality of bending portions 41 and 42, which are positioned between the second side cover 22 and the second upper cover 32, are fixedly bent toward an outer surface of the second side cover 22, and integrally connect the second side cover 22 and the second upper cover 32. Accordingly, as is shown in FIG. 6, a groove 43 is obtained between the grip portion 40, folded toward the outer surface of the second side cover 22, and the second side cover 22, and the packaging container 10 containing the washing machine 1 is lifted up by the groove 43 of the packaging container 10 onto a fork 70 of a forklift.

Although the number of the bending portions 41 and 42 in the illustrated embodiment of the present invention is two, according to another embodiment, the bending portions may be prepared in an even number greater than two. Further, according to yet another embodiment, the bending portions 41 and 42 may be provided between each of the side covers 21, 22, 23 and 24 and the corresponding one of the upper covers 31, 32, 33 and 34 so that the grip portions 40 are respectively obtained on the outer surfaces of the side covers 21, 22, 23 and 24. Further, a fold 44 is positioned between the bending portions 41 and 42, between the bending portion 41 and the second side cover 22, and between the bending portion 42 and the second upper cover 32, thereby allowing the bending portions 41 and 42 to be easily bent relative to the second side cover 22 and the second upper cover 32.

Since the side cover portion 20, covering the side surfaces of the washing machine 1, and the upper cover portion 30, covering the upper surface of the washing machine 1, which constitute the packaging portion of the packaging container 10 of the present invention, are integrally manufactured, the packaging container 10 is easily manufactured and does not require an additional step of connecting the side cover portion 20 and the upper cover portion 30, thus simplifying a packaging procedure.

A cushion member 2 to buffer and support the washing machine 1 is positioned under a lower end of the washing machine 1 wrapped in the above packaging container 10, and the washing machine 1 is wrapped in the packaging container 10 under the condition that the lower end of the washing machine 1 is supported by the cushion member 2. Now, a packaging procedure of the washing machine 1 using the above packaging container will be described, as follows.

First, as is shown in FIG. 2, the connecting portion 25 positioned at the edge of the fourth side cover 24 is connected with the outer surface of the edge of the first side cover 21 under the condition that the side covers 21, 22, 23 and 24 are folded so that the side cover portion 20 of the packaging portion covers all the side surfaces of the washing machine 1 and upper parts of side surfaces of the cushion member 2. According to one aspect, the connecting portion 25 is conveniently connected with the outer surface of the edge of the first side cover 21 by an adhesive tape 50 instead of an adhesive agent such as glue, thereby fixing the plural side covers 21, 22, 23 and 24 such that each of the side covers 21, 22, 23 and 24 covers the corresponding one of the four side surfaces of the washing machine 1.

Next, as is shown in FIG. 3, the grip portion 40, in which the bending portions 41 and 42 are bent so that the inner surfaces thereof contact each other, is folded toward the outer surface of the second side cover 22, thereby contacting the upper part of the outer surface of the second side cover 22. The grip portion 40 is fixed under the condition that the grip portion 40 is folded toward the outer surface of the second side cover 22. According to one aspect, both ends of the grip portion 40 are fixed to the second side cover 22 using the adhesive tape 50 in the same manner as the connecting portion 25.

After the grip portion 40 is fixed to the second side cover 22, as is shown in FIG. 4, the second upper cover 32 and the fourth upper cover 34 are folded, and then the first upper cover 31 and the third upper cover 33 are folded, such that the second and fourth upper covers 32 and 34 cover the upper surface of the washing machine 1. Thereafter, the first upper cover 31 and the third upper cover 33 are fixed to the side cover portion 20 using the adhesive tape 50, so that the upper covers 31, 32, 33 and 34 are folded to cover the upper surface of the washing machine 1.

Next, band members 60 are wound onto the outer surfaces of the packaging portion of the packaging container 10 and the cushion member 2. Thereby, as is shown in FIG. 5, the packaging portion pressingly contacts the washing machine 1 and the cushion member 2 so that the washing machine 1 and the cushion member 2 together with the packaging container 10 can be lifted up. Then, as is shown in FIG. 6, when the fork 70 of the forklift is inserted into the groove 43 formed between the grip portion 40 and the outer surface of the second side cover 22 and ascends, the packaging container 10 containing the washing machine 1 is lifted up and conveyed to a container ship or a storage facility by the forklift.

As is apparent from the above description, the present invention provides a packaging container comprising a packaging portion including a side cover portion, to cover side surfaces of a target product, and an upper cover portion, to cover an upper surface of the product, which are integrally formed. Thereby, the packaging container is easily manufactured and does not require an additional operation of connecting the side cover portion and the upper cover portion, thus simplifying a packaging procedure.

Although a few embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the claims and their equivalents. 

1. A packaging container comprising: a side cover portion to surround side surfaces of a product; an upper cover portion foldably extended integrally from the side cover portion to cover an upper surface of the product; and a grip portion integrally formed between the side cover portion and the upper cover portion and folded toward the side cover portion to form a groove between the grip portion and the side cover portion.
 2. The packaging container according to claim 1, wherein the grip portion includes a plurality of bending portions bent to overlap each other.
 3. The packaging container according to claim 2, wherein the bending portions are prepared in an even number.
 4. The packaging container according to claim 3, wherein the number of the bending portions is two.
 5. The packaging container according to claim 1, wherein the grip portion is fixed to the side cover portion under the condition that the grip portion is folded toward the side cover portion.
 6. The packaging container according to claim 5, wherein the grip portion is fixed to the side cover portion by an adhesive tape.
 7. The packaging container according to claim 1, wherein: the side cover portion includes a plurality of side covers integrally formed and folded to respectively surround the side surfaces of the product; the upper cover portion includes a plurality of upper covers extended integrally from the side cover portion and folded to cover the upper surface of the product; and the grip portion is formed at least between one side cover and one upper cover.
 8. The packaging container according to claim 7, wherein the plural side covers and the plural upper covers are fixed together by an adhesive tape under the condition that the side and upper covers surround the side and upper surfaces of the product.
 9. The packaging container according to claim 1, further comprising: a cushion member to support the product positioned under a lower end of the product; and a band member wound onto an outer surface of the packaging container and the cushion member so that the product, the cushion member, and the packaging container can be lifted together.
 10. The packaging container according to claim 1, wherein the product includes an electric appliance.
 11. The packaging container according to claim 10, wherein the electric appliance is one selected from the group consisting of a washing machine and a refrigerator.
 12. A packaging container comprising: a packaging portion including a side cover portion to surround side surfaces of a product, and an upper cover portion foldably formed integrally with an upper end of the side cover portion to cover an upper surface of the product; and a grip portion extended integrally from the packaging portion to lift the packaging portion therewith.
 13. A method for covering a product, comprising: placing a first end of the product on a cushion member; covering sides of the product with a plurality of side covers of a packaging container, the side covers being integrally formed; folding a grip portion of the packaging container to form a groove, the grip portions being integrally formed with and extending from one of the side covers, and the groove being formed between the grip portion and the one of the side covers; folding a plurality of end covers to cover a second end of the product, the plurality of end covers being integrally formed with the side covers, each end cover being connected with a corresponding one of the side covers, and one of the side covers extending from the grip portion; and winding a band member around the cushion member, and the packaging container to secure the cushion member with the side and end covers.
 14. The method according to claim 13, further comprising: fixing the grip portion to side covers adjacent the one of the side covers.
 15. The method according to claim 14, wherein the grip portion is fixed to the side covers adjacent the one of the side covers using an adhesive tape.
 16. The method according to claim 13, wherein the groove corresponds with a fork of a forklift, to aid transportation of the product.
 17. The method according to claim 13, further comprising: fixing the end covers and the side covers.
 18. The method according to claim 17, wherein the end covers are fixed with the side covers using an adhesive tape. 